Blackout
by Elles Green
Summary: Trylon City has been experiencing a series of blackouts. Is the Ministry of Science involved? Shunsaku Ban is sent to investigate! But when he gets there, he finds that finding the source of these blackouts is the least of his worries… (Rated T. No Parings.)
1. Lights Out

Trylon City has been experiencing a series of black outs. Is the Ministry of Science involved? Shunsaku Ban is sent to investigate! But when he gets there, he finds that finding the source of these blackouts is the least of his worries…Rated T. No Parings.

WARNING: This story contains dark themes, occasional swearing, insanity, alcohol use, mentions of blood and disembodied voices. If this isn't your thing, that's perfectly fine, I won't judge. Just hit that 'back' button and have a nice day.

Still plan on reading? *rubs hands together evilly* excellent…

* * *

Lights Out

The last of the lights on the machine faded as darkness swept over the room. Another attempt to shut it off for good had failed. Soon Trylon City would have its power back. The only good thing about deciding to take the building 'offline', Dr. Chaman thought to himself, was at least no one would be able to fully trace where the energy was going.

Enough was enough though; he was tired of the secrets, tired of the speculation. All because of something he was trying to prove, what was he trying to prove? He didn't even remember…it felt like it had been so long ago.

_'They'll have to know…this was never my intention, I never meant for any of this to happen...'_

Suddenly he felt a chill run down his spine, like invisible fingers, one that he knew all too well. "Isao…I should have known this was your work."

Isao chuckled._ "Guilty as charged…but tell me Doctor…why would you want to get rid of all this? Your…dream?"_

"Dream? Is that what you think this is? It's nothing but a nightmare!"

_"You succeeded…didn't you?"_

The question caught him off guard. "What?"

_"You wanted to know…what was on the other side. And now that you've found it…you just want to…shut it all out?"_

"It's not like that!"

_"Was ignorance…really bliss?"_

"No it's – what could you possibly know about that? "

_"Let me tell you something Doctor…Hell doesn't have an…on and off switch…"_

The once delicate fingers running down his spine closed themselves tightly crushing each vertebra, paralyzing him.

"Isao, what are- oh god, no! NO-!"

Outside the room, Kuro was pounding on the door. "What the hell Chaman?! Open this door!" He had been standing there for nearly an hour demanding to know what was going on.

Isao looked down at the Doctor, a truly noble man right until the end. What a pity that he had to go. A small sound caught his attention. It was that other bothersome man, what was his name? Oh well, not like it was going to matter in a few moments.

At this point Kuro had slumped against the door, tired of from trying to beat it down, when a small chill ran down his spine. "Isao." He said breathlessly. "What are you doing here?!"

Isao sighed._ "Just a little something I had to…take care of…"_

Kuro realized now that the room he had been trying to get into for the last hour was strangely quiet. Then he put it all together. "What the hell did you do to him?!"

_"Here…let me…show you…"_

* * *

"Unexplained power outages continue throughout the Trylon City area this week, leading many to blame Ministry of Science's northern building. With some of its laboratories located 400 feet below the ocean, the off line facility has recently become infamous for its top secret research. Prompting widespread speculation on the nature of their experiments. And more specifically the purpose of Project Phosphorus. Although the Ministry of Science continues to decline any comment, leaked documents routinely point to the development of a sort of generator."

"Still," the blond anchorwoman continued. "Others seem to focus on some kind of biological research. While details remain few and far between, one fact remains undeniable, whatever the Ministry's Northern Branch is building, the likes of it have never been seen before."

"Speak of the devil." Shunsaku Ban muttered under his breath as he passed by the TV screen in the Ministry of Science's lobby. Ever since the ministry's northern branch went offline, strange reports had been coming in, and things weren't quite adding up. He had been called in by Dr. Ochanimizu personally, to investigate this matter.

He was a bit confused as to why, when the Ministry had connections to other more prominent crime investigators. But he wasn't really in the position to say no, since cases like this where hard to come by, and rent wasn't exactly cheap.

Riding up in the glass elevator, he pondered this question while looking out over the city. He wondered what would happen if Metro City were to experience blackouts on the same level that Trylon City currently was, and all the chaos that would likely ensue. Fortunately here they were very rare, and for that they were lucky.

In fact, Shunsaku could only think of one time recently that he had ever seen all the lights go out on the Metro City skyline. But that had been quite a while ago.

"Hello Professor."

"Hello Stranger."Dr. Ochanimizu chuckled. "It's been a while."

"Yeah, it has."

"Just wish it were nicer circumstances."

"Well, I guess that's life. Maybe when this is all over we can head back to that place on Fifth Street. With that piano bar, remember?"

"That was my white jacket, I remember."

"Oh, come on. It's not like I went out of my way to do that."

"Anyway…"

"Right, anyway…"

An hour later he and Dr. Ochanimizu were wrapping up on the details of the case when they were interrupted by a little voice that Shunsaku knew well, it was his occasional tag along Uran.

"Doctor? When-…Mr. Ban? What're you doing here? Are you gonna go solve another mystery? Can I come?"

"Sorry kiddo, not this time."

"Awww!"

"Now Uran, I'm sure Nora is worried about you." The doctor cut in.

"But Nora's no fun. And Astro isn't back yet; - it's really boring at home!"

"Uran. We'll talk about this later."

"...Fine..." Uran walked out of the room and the door slid shut behind her. It wasn't fair! If she were Astro she wouldn't have gotten shooed away. Was it because she was younger? Because she was a girl? Because she wasn't as strong?

Uran frowned at the unfairness of it all. So maybe she wasn't as strong, she was still just as tough! But these days all she seemed to be good for is something to be shoved out of the way, and that was something that…suddenly gave Uran an idea.

The two watched the little girl reluctantly leave the room in silence.

"Huh, I figured that was the case." Shunsaku said finally.

"What?"

"I thought it was a little strange that you'd be sending me when you've got someone like Astro."

"Well...that was part of the reason. Plus, Astro's so recognizable that it would ruin any attempt to go undercover. And then there's the nature of the...investigation itself..."

"Makes sense. If the deaths of these two had something to do with this, I'm not sure he'd fully be able to process what sort of motives someone could have had." Humans could be strange creatures, and while he wasn't trying to give Astro any discredit, something this strange was probably better being looked at first by another human.

"I'm not even sure that I do."

Shunsaku glanced towards the large floor to ceiling windows that looked out over the city. It must have been great to have a view like this all the time.

"Did you know this, Nirav Chaman, personally?"

"I guess you could call him an old acquaintance. He came here from Tibet, and worked here briefly before he transferred to the North Branch in Trylon City, but that was nearly ten years ago now."

"I see, and the other man?" he referred down to the file in his hand. "Hibine Kuro?"

"Never heard of him. According to that report, he was working as a psychiatrist in the hospital nearby."

Shunsaku turned from the window towards the doctor again "So why exactly do you want me to investigate this?"

Dr. Ochanimizu sighed. "People are demanding answers, the branch went offline and the number of blackouts in Trylon City went up. That can't be a coincidence."

"But if it was something Chaman was working on...-he's dead now. What else would be causing them?"

"That's exactly what I was wondering. The North Branch building is part of the Ministry of Science, so if it has something to do with all this then I'd like to get it sorted out."

"And rule it out if it doesn't?"

"More or less."

* * *

[A/N]: When I refer to "branch buildings" here's what I mean. The way I see it is that every country has different ministries. Their main buildings are in or near the capital cities while smaller divisions are in different regions. Like the way a major company has a headquarters, but has other locations that report to that main building.

Geographically speaking, if Metro City is Tokyo, Trylon City is most likely Sapporo. Both are in Japan but Sapporo is much farther north.


	2. Strategizing

Strategizing

It was late in the evening when Shunsaku arrived in Trylon City. The hotel he had booked was only three blocks away from the Ministry's North Branch, and while it was not the fanciest hotel in the world, Shunsaku had been in worse. He set his smaller bag down on the bed and started to unzip his larger one. He would have finished unzipping it if he hadn't been startled out of his wits.

"HI!"

"Uran!" Shunsaku caught his breath. "You nearly scared me half to death!"

"Sorry." Uran said as she pulled herself out of the bag. "So is this like a secret mission? I can keep secrets."

"What are you doing here?"

"You weren't gonna tell me so I decided to come and find out why." She smoothed out her pink dress.

Not that he minded her being there, it was just that the decision to have her go or stay was up to Ochanimizu, not him. "He doesn't know you're here does he?"

Uran giggled. "Nope! So come on, what's the secret?"

"There isn't a..." But Uran cut him off.

"Wait, wait! Let me guess! It's some mysterious journey to find a lost person who doesn't want to be found, and the only way is through a series of adventures that uncover something completely different!"

Shunsaku sighed. "You've been on those fanfiction sites again haven't you?"

"Uh-huh!"

"I'll let you in on something; this here isn't some neatly packaged little detective story. There aren't going to be any happy endings here, at least not for some people."

"Cool!"

He wasn't quite sure how to continue; he had to choose the right words so he wouldn't traumatize the girl. Luckily his phone rang before he had to. It was Ochanimizu.

"Hey, yeah…I just got here, and I seem to have found a stowaway." He said, glancing Uran's direction. "Yes….yes, she did…Here, do you want me to put her on?"

"No! No, I'm not here!" Uran cried, darting behind the curtain. She knew she was in for it.

"Well that's your decision to make…I don't mind having her around. Alright hang on."

Shunsaku walked over to the small lump in the curtains. "It's for you."

Uran hesitantly took the phone from him. He decided to give her a moment to talk, and went back to unpacking his bags.

"What'd he say?"

"He said I can stay here and help!" Uran replied happily as she ran back over to the bag and pulled out her scarf and small mirror, tossing them on the bed.

_Strange…_ Shunsaku thought. He didn't seem too enthusiastic about Uran being there at first._ I wonder what caused this change of heart._

If she was helping, Shunsaku figured he might as well tell her. "Uran, you're a brave girl right?"

What kind of question is that? Uran thought. "Of course I am!"

Shunsaku gave her a slightly teasing look. "How brave?" He knew the answer deep down, but he wanted to see how she answered.

"I'm really brave,! Brave just like Astro, well maybe not "just" like Astro. But still brave enough!

He heard the hint of desperation in her voice. Now it all made sense.

"So that's why you came along?"

"Yeah…" That's what Uran liked about Shunsaku, he was clever enough to figure out her thoughts without her having to outright say them.

"...I guess." she said with a slump in her shoulders. "Astro's always saving the day. I want to help him, but I always mess it up and he has to save me and the day." Uran flopped down on the bed.

"Surely it's not like that all the time?"

"It is!" Uran said miserably. "There's this cat that lives down the street, and he's always getting stuck in the big tree. I try to go up there and get him down but…" She picked up her scarf and balled it up in her hands. "I lose my balance and fall… and I can never reach him." She sniffed and buried her face in the scarf. "You hit the power lines enough times, and people start asking if they can use you to recharge their batteries!"

Uran shook her head. " I don't want to be like that. I want to save the day too."

Poor kid, living in her brother's shadow all of her short life, and now subjected to this?

"Looks like you came to the right place then, as far as I know Astro's never dealt with something like this."

Uran's head popped up. "Really?"

"Really. The Ministry sent me here because they believe something at their northern branch building is causing the blackouts." Shunsaku started to pace a little.

"But that sounds kinda like when Astro was in Angel Harbor."

"No, this gets better believe me." He said, raising a finger for emphasis. "The Ministry also thinks that a project that was being worked on by a Dr. Nirav Chaman is responsible for the blackouts."

"Oh," Uran's eyes were wide with wonder. "But wait...I heard about that guy on the news." She paused for a moment. "He's...dead."

"Exactly."

"So...if he's not running this project, if that's what's happening...who is?"

Shunsaku chuckled. "Couldn't have said it better myself."

"Wow" Uran whispered.

"I was thinking of scoping out the place tomorrow. That is…if you're up for it."

"Am I!?" Uran dug her jacket and a few other things from out of the bag. "Let's go!"

"Ok, hang on a minute, we have to strategize this."

He pulled out a tourist map of the area he had picked at a visitor's center. "We'll find a way to get in, and figure out where this project is from the inside out." Shunsaku never was the best at unfolding maps.

"We're just gonna go there right away? That kills all the suspense! What about hiding in the shadows, and finding a stalled car full of empty trunks?"

_This kid has got to stop reading stories on the internet. _Shunsaku thought as he finally got the map straightened out

"I know what we can do!"

"Ok, shoot."

" We stake the place out until everyone's gone, disable the cameras and sneak in."

"Well of course, but that comes later. First we need to find the right place to stake out."

"How are we gonna do that?"

Something out the window caught Shunsaku's eye. He walked over to get a better look by peering through the blinds. It was perfect! He turned back toward Uran "Ok, here's what we're gonna do."

* * *

[A/N: I swear, Shunsaku Ban and Dr. Ochanimizu have such a "bromance"]


	3. Caught

Caught

There it was, The North Division of the Ministry of Science. The building was a lot bigger than Shunsaku had expected. He had to tilt his head all the way back and squint just to see the top. He and Uran made their way up the concrete steps and through the glass doors that lead into the lobby.

It wasn't that hard. If you looked like you belonged there who would question you? Uran looked like any other little girl her age. She was wearing her deep pocketed brown coat with the row of buttons going up the front, and her yellow scarf, which had been a present she had gotten from Astro on her birthday.

The plan was to join the crowd of reporters that had swarmed to the front conference halls. Seems like everyone wanted to get whatever stories they could out of this situation. If that didn't yield any results, they would go back to their idea of staking the place out. Shunsaku thought it was a bit cliche but right now, that would have to wait.

The lobby consisted of a large atrium, huge and open. Glass elevators fitted into a series of tubes could be seen running up and down from floor to floor. The set up looked a bit like an enormous pipe organ if you used your imagination. But it was the other side of the lobby that had really caught their attention. Along the near wall was the largest fish tank that the two of them had ever seen. Why a building so close to the harbor, and thus, the ocean, would need a fish tank when all the fish where right there was confusing. But that didn't stop it from being fascinating.

"Look! There's a turtle!"

Inside the tank a large school of fish darted away as they approached, leaving the sea turtle to lazily swim along the bottom by itself.

Shunsaku chuckled. "Yeah look at that."

The voice of a security guard snapped them out of it. "Hey! All reporters to conference room three."

"Oh, uh. Yeah! We were just heading there!" They'd better get moving.

The security guard stared after them a moment and then shook his head and sighed. Reporters these days, you've see one, you've seen 'em all.

"The crowd's huge! How're we gonna get in?"

Shunsaku noticed a small door at the top of the stairs. "Come on, up here!"

The narrow maintenance door was just wide enough for the two of them to fit through. He tried the handle. _Damn _"It's locked."Shunsaku muttered. He sized up the door looking at its hinges, maybe…with just the right amount of force…

"I can get it!" This was just like the one at home, a simple key card lock. Right away she set to work.

Shunsaku looked down at Uran with surprise "Since when can you pick locks?"

"I got tired of climbing through the window when I forgot my house key."

"Let me guess, Ochanomizu doesn't know about this either?"

"Who, do you think I am? Astro?"

Shunsaku had to laugh at that. The little girl had sure had guts. Or…whatever the robot equivalent to that was.

The door lead to a metal walkway that ran behind the wall, probably a sort of safety ramp that the electricians used when they needed to get to the wiring. Through here they would be able to listen in on what sort of questions where brought up without fighting a swarm of people. But as soon as they reached the middle of the walkway, they realized they weren't alone.

A woman was standing on the other end of the walkway near the air vents, peering down into them. She looked a bit startled to see them.

They stared at each other in surprise for a few seconds, until she finally lowered her eyelids and spoke.

"You two were in the lobby earlier." She looked them over with mild curiosity. Her voice was dark and low, yet still feminine.

"Ah, yes we just..."

"You're not reporters." She took a step toward them.

Oh no, cover definitely blown this time. Had she seen them? Time to act fast!

The woman sighed and crossed her arms. "Reporters aren't this clever. Let me guess, private investigator?"

Man she was good.

"Who sent you?" Who did this lady think she was?

"Wait a minute." Uran said suddenly. "Who are you, asking all the questions? When we could be asking you the same?"

Shunsaku was impressed, this must have been a new record for the fastest "good cop, bad cop" routine they'd gotten into. Though usually once the two of them got going, it turned into "bad cop, worse cop"

"Me? Why would that interest you at all?"

Shunsaku tried to rationalize, trying not to let his irritation with this woman show through. "This is a strange place for anyone to be who isn't a security guard or an electrician. And from the looks of it you're neither of those things."

Uran smiled inwardly. _One point for us! This lady? ZERO!_

The woman smirked and uncrossed her arms. "Alright, fair enough. I picked this spot so they wouldn't see me. I wanted to hear the press conference without getting lost in that sea of reporters." Her dark eyes finally meeting his. "Same as you."

It was true, the second floor balcony of the conference room was just behind this wall. It was easy to listen in to the conversation rising up through the air vents.

He didn't want to do this, but Shunsaku caved in. Maybe it had something to do with how strangely pretty he found this woman.

"We were sent here by the Ministry of Science in Metro City."

Uran looked up at him in disbelief. _Mr. Ban, what're you doing? You're blowing our cover!_

The stern look of suspicion on her face softened. She was about to say something when they heard a sound of footsteps echoing from the direction of the door. Another security guard? Instantly her demeanor changed from stern to worried.

"Look, I'm not supposed to be here right now." she ducked past them but then turned back around. "How long will the two of you be here?"

"As long as it takes to find out who's in charge of all this."

"Do you want to talk to someone in charge, or someone who knows what's going on?"

They were quiet for a moment, why was she suddenly being helpful?

"You know how to get to the Central Canal? Where the tour ships load and unload?"

Shunsaku and Uran shook their heads.

"Get on to West Murasaki Street and follow it all the way out. You'll run right into it. Meet me there the day after tomorrow, seven 'o'clock."

With that the woman turned to leave.

"Wait!" Uran called after her. "What's your name?"

"Alice."

Around the corner, quickly and quietly, she exited the ramp through another door and turned down the adjacent hallway. She nearly made it to the stairs when she heard a voice that made her let out a startled gasp.

"Alice?"

She turned around and let out a relieved breath. "Oh! Oh, it's only you...thank god."

Standing before her was a tall young man, who at most could have been in his late teens. "Who were you talking to?"

"Come with me." Alice said, dragging him with her to the stairwell and closing the door behind them. "You'll never believe this! Remember those two people in the lobby? They were sent here from Metro City. This could be our chance!"

"Our chance to get out of here? I don't know..."

"Why? What is it?"

"That little girl...she's a robot."

"Yeah, what about it?"

"She looks...really familiar for some reason."

"She does?"

The young man was silent for a moment, and then a look of confusion fell over his face. "When did we get to the stairwell?"

Alice looked at him sadly, poor thing was known for having memory lapses, which didn't seem like they were getting better.

"We were heading down to the studios remember?"

"We were?"

Alice really hated lying to him, but she should have known better than to bring up something so drastic when he was still the way he was.

"Yeah, we were. Come on, we don't want to keep them waiting."

"Ok."

* * *

Astro Boy © Osamu Tezuka All rights respected


	4. Ghosts

Ghosts

The next day Uran and Shunsaku had managed to get to the hallways behind the elevators without raising any suspicion, which was kind of surprising considering how they had almost been caught the day before.

"Alright, how's this? You take the upstairs and I'll see what's over this direction."

"But in all the movies I've seen, splitting up is bad."

"No Uran, that only happens in scary movies. I doubt you have anything to worry about."

Really what could happen? They'd barely been in Trylon City for two days and they not only had found their way in to the building, they also had a lead!

"So then…tomorrow are we going to see Alice?"

Shunsaku cleared his throat. "Uh, yes well…she could be an important source of information after all." He was still a little embarrassed about how things had went the day before, but at least things ended going the right direction.

Things were going well, maybe a little too well.

Uran wandered up the flight of stairs to the next floor up. On her right was a door that Uran swore she heard a noise coming from behind. The door was unlocked and she peeked in. It was an unusual hallway she had found herself in. There was a high ceiling, no windows, and only two sets of doors leading in and out. The lighting wasn't very good; it was very dim and seemed to flicker at random.

"Is anyone in here?" Uran whispered to herself.

Along the wall there were statues of people. She walked up to them to get a better look. All of them where bone white; whoever had carved them must have been a master, because they almost looked real.

Just then a small movement from the far end of the hall caught the corner of her eye. In slow motion, unsure of what she was about to see, she glanced over her shoulder. It was looking right at her, circular eyes reflecting the small amounts of light that had managed to crawl into the room. Slowly it was coming closer, it was…

A Cat?

"Hey little guy." Uran said sweetly to the little black cat that had walked up to her. It was purring rather loudly.

"…_shouldn't be here…"_

Uran looked down at the cat. She could talk to animals but that didn't mean animals could talk.

"_All…alone…"_

The cat scampered away in fear as Uran tried to locate where the voice was coming from. But the hall was empty except for her and the statues. A small chill ran down her back, and she jumped back in surprise.

"Who are you?"

She heard a small noise that sounded like someone talking, and tried to zone in on the frequency with the sensitive modulators in her ears, but instead of words she found a strange ringing sound.

"Where…are you?"

"…_use your…imagination…"_ the voice echoed.

She glanced over to the door frame a small crack of light shyly reaching in where the cat had escaped earlier. As badly as she wanted to make a run for that door, she stopped herself. She tightened her scarf around her neck.

What would Astro do in a situation like this? She thought. He certainly wouldn't run away.

"I'm not scared of you!" Uran believed if she sounded brave enough, she could convince who ever this voice belonged to, and herself, that she could hold her ground.

There it was again, that strange ringing sound. Once again she tried to zone in on its location, but this time the ringing gave way to a distorted crackle, as if the voice had faded to static.

She took a step back, the static sound becoming louder.

"… _little girl…do you believe?"_

Uran thought for a moment, believe what? In monsters? Ghosts? Is that what this was? Not a chance. "Those are only in scary stories. There's no such thing!"

"…_Interesting."_

The lights went out entirely and then something strange happened. Just as suddenly as the voice had appeared, it was gone. Uran looked around frantically, what was going on? What had just happened?

A small flicker appeared in the corner of her eye. Another cat? She turned to look, no…nothing there. Two more flickers appeared, then three. Uran then realized that the flickers weren't something in the room, but something in her eyes!

"_You believe."_

Before she could say anything a jolt of energy ran through her shoulders, reaching up and around to her face like fast growing roots. Her vision was flickering out of control as her surroundings became blurrier. She managed to brace herself against the wall and held on to it for dear life as her vision turned to static.

She gasped in shock as she lost her balance and slid to the ground. "_You believe_."

"No! I…don't!" Uran covered her ears with her hands. Not that it did much since it felt like the voice was coming from inside of her head. At this point she was slumped against the wall, wondering when this would end.

"_Uran…_"

She prepared herself for the worst but then…

Nothing.

Was this….this _thing _gone for good?

Scanning over her eyes, she didn't find any permanent damage, but it would take a little while for her eyes to refocus, she hoped.

The oppressive atmosphere of uncertainty and fear had changed to a softer one, one of defeated sorrow. As Uran came to realize this, she stared to feel a bit sad herself.

A part of her wanted to reach out into the dark and feel for a body to hug, but she couldn't bring herself to do it for fear that she truly would find one.

And that's what made her nervous. So instead she stayed put, huddled up against the wall, staring blankly into the darkness, waiting for her vision to return to normal while trying to process what had just happened.

Her vision was still blurry, but through the haze she saw someone coming towards her. He was pale, was he one of the statues? No, it was a young man, whose brown hair and eyes contrasted his light skin. Was this who the voice belonged to? Couldn't be, that voice sounded really dark and scary, and whoever this was looked so gentle. Could it?

She saw that his lips where moving. He was saying something…what was he saying?

Uran struggled to keep her eyes open but from what she could see, this young man didn't look scary at all. "Are…you…an angel?"

"If I were, I wouldn't be here." He whispered as Uran lost consciousness.


	5. Light Bulb

[A/N]: This chapter is short but in time it will all make sense

* * *

Light Bulb

That morning Dr. Ochanimizu and Astro were in the living room. "Everything alright Astro?"

"Huh? Oh yeah…I'm fine."

Astro had finally gotten back from Flower City. The meeting had been a success. The new subway tunnel supports were finally in place and deemed safe. Strong enough to last a thousand years, they said. Of course realistically it looked more like five hundred years, but either way it would be a long, long time before they needed replacing.

"You sure? You seem a little distractible today."

"I do?"

Right after was when he found out that Uran had stowed away in Shunsaku's luggage to go solve a mystery with him. He had heard how distressed the doctor had sounded when he was on the phone. It wasn't until Astro had calmed him down and convinced him that Uran would be fine that he decided she could stay.

"Did something happen in the subway tunnels?"

"No…I just had a weird dream last night." Astro always seemed to have the most unusual dreams.

"Hmm, what was it about?"

"…my father was in it."

" ?"

"Yeah…he was talking to someone. He looked really upset."

"Who was he talking to?"

"I don't know, I think it was another man. But I couldn't see who he was. It was…really dark. I think…he was trying to look for something…and the man said something like "it's not coming back." Or…I don't know…"

He tried to remember any other details that could further explain what it had been about, but he came up blank.

"You know when you take two magnets, and you try to put two of the same ends together and they push away? It was kinda like that. The whole dream…"

"Want me to try to go over it in your data files?" Dr. Ochanomizu offered.

"Um…ok, if you think it will help."

The doctor went to go get his coat and Astro followed him.

"Now come on, we have to get going before traffic gets bad."


	6. Files

Files

Meanwhile Shunsaku had found his way into a storage room of some sort. The lights on the ceiling weakly attempted to illuminate his surroundings. From what he could see there where metal shelves with boxes and rows of files along both walls.

Shunsaku looked over the various files. Hacking into a database would've been so much faster, he thought, but he would have been traced in a heartbeat. He'd just have to do it the old fashioned way and settle for hard copies. Now where to start?

Along the wall in front of him where shelves of boxes; no bigger than the ones you could send in the mail. He expected them to be organized by names, or even numbers. But instead he found each box had a range of dates. He took the first one, which read_ 'Jan. 20 - Feb. 9'_, down off the shelf. It was heavier than he had expected. The lid was dusty; it probably hadn't been touched since it had been put up there.

Inside the box he found a few manila envelopes which where resting under a plastic white card. He recognized the pattern of its serial number. He hadn't seen one in ages but it reminded him of one of the first cases he'd investigated when he was younger. The number was issued from the National Registry, and was used when a body was found, but couldn't be identified. DNA from the body would be checked against all of the registered people and would hopefully match one of them.

_Strange._ Shunsaku thought to himself.

In the first envelope there were some printed out news articles. The headline of one read: _Accident on train tracks kills 2._ The article was dated from three years ago. It listed the sad event of a man who tried to end his life by jumping onto the tracks. If that weren't enough, a woman nearby had grabbed him in an attempt to stop him, but had also been pulled down by the momentum.

It went on to go into bystander accounts, security footage, and police findings on the event. The next paper he found was from an obituary with one of the names highlighted. _Nobu Midori. Beloved Daughter, Sister, Aunt and Friend. _He looked back through the news article. Nobu Midori, there she was again. The woman who tried to stop this man?

Carefully he placed the papers back in the envelope and pulled out the next one. These ones had some charts that looked like some doctor had signed them. Various tests for diseases and ailments but nothing found. He finally found a small picture of this mystery woman.

Shunsaku studied the face. "So that's who you are." he said to the photo of Nobu Midori, or as he better knew her, Alice.

* * *

About an hour later he was about to go through the last box when he heard a noise from outside the door. Then it stopped, then it started up again. Where they...footsteps? Where they coming closer? If he stayed there it wouldn't be long before he was found. He decided he would quickly send Ochanomizu a message about the names of other people he had found, take the last box with him, and then get the hell out of there.

He gathered up the remaining box in his arms and turned to the door. But in his haste, he stumbled over his own foot and sent the last box crashing to the ground, its contents spilling all over the floor.

_Ow._

Shunsaku managed to get everything back into the box, though not very gracefully, and slip out the door before anyone noticed him. He glanced into the box and shut the lid tightly over it. Satisfied with what he had found, he tucked the box into his bag, and set out to find out where Uran had run off to.

What he didn't know, was that in his scramble to gather up the papers and files, a small photograph had slid out of sight and had landed under a desk.


	7. Alice

[A/N]: So have I officially scared everyone away yet?

* * *

Alice

The next night they stood out by the canal. The air was cool and the sky was clear, clear enough to see a handful of stars since the city lights didn't quite reach out this far. A breeze had started to pick up and blow at the ends of Uran's scarf.

"Don't worry Uran, we won't split up anymore."

She had been a little hesitant to tell him what had happened; worried that he would send her back home. How would she have explained being found sound asleep on a sofa in the main lobby, without it sounding like something suspicious? Luckily he was understanding, confused, but understanding. "Promise?"

"I promise." Shunsaku patted her on the shoulder. Uran hugged him, her face pressed into his side. As long as she was with him she felt safe, as long as she was with him she felt like whatever had happened in that hallway wouldn't happen again.

They heard some faint footsteps and turned around to face her, Alice. "There you are."

"I feel like I should be saying that to you. I wasn't exactly that friendly when we first met."

"We're just glad you're here."

"It's just that...things being the way they are these days... I didn't mean to come off as so stern." She shifted slightly. "I wasn't here when it happened...we're all a bit on edge."

Interesting bit of information there. "If we're...going to keep this on the record, is it alright if I call you Ms. Nobu?"

"Excuse me?"

"I found some files in an old storage room, they point to some connection with Dr. Chaman. How did the two of you know each other?"

She sighed. "Let's just say I owe him my life."

"How?" Uran finally asked.

"You'll probably think I'm crazy for saying this, but without him, I wouldn't be here today. None of us would."

"Where would you be?"

"...dead."

"Dead?"

"He saved us...with that thing of his."

Now this was getting crazy. He thought back to the files he had found. "Hold on, hold on. You mean to tell me that you were dead?"

"Yes."

" And that this Chaman somehow…what…brought you back to life?"

"Yes." said Alice, completely serious.

Shunsaku wasn't buying it. Dead people can't be brought back to life. Could they? His thoughts were interrupted by a small tug on his sleeve. It was Uran.

"She's not lying." she whispered up to him. Like her brother she had the ability to sense such things.

There was a strained silence between them for a few moments, one that Uran tried to break."What happened?"

"Do you want the long version or the short version?"

"We've got time."

"I used to live in a smaller city a few hours south of here. I had a pretty good life too. I had a job, friends, a fiancé... I was working for Harima Electric as a graphic designer, designing their logos and things like that."

Alice crossed her arms and leaned back against the wall. "One day I stayed late to beat the evening rush home, so I didn't get to the train station until nine or so."

"There were still quite a few people in the station, but it was way less crowded than it had been earlier. I ended up standing next to this man, no idea who he was. He turned to me and said...

_ "Excuse me miss, your name wouldn't happen to be Alice would it?"_

"_No, my name is Midori." _

"_Oh I'm sorry; you just... look so much like someone I used to know." _

"_It's alright, I get that a lot."_

"...and then we heard the train approaching from around the corner."

Alice let her head slowly tilt downward and Shunsaku swore he saw her throat tighten. "All of a sudden he...darted towards the track; I knew what he was trying to do. I grabbed his arm to try to stop him…

"_Hey! What're you doing?!"_

"_Let go!"_

"…but the momentum was strong and fell onto the track with him. I struggled to get up, and the man looked at me with tears in his eyes."

"_Alice, you came back." _

"….and then the train hit us."

Alice figured since there was a little girl there she would spare them the details of the carnage that ensued. Shunsaku and Uran stared at her in silence as she continued.

"Alice was the first name I remembered when I was brought back, so that's what I went by while I was trying to remember everything. It took me a while, but once I had I wanted to go back and try to find my fiancé."

"I managed to look him up. He was still working at the bank just outside of town. I don't think he recognized me at first. But, he had a ring on his finger. I guess it was selfish to think that he wouldn't find someone else after I...anyway. I saw the ring and I just wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. I knew I had made a mistake. But then he stopped me.

"_Excuse me miss, your name wouldn't happen to be Midori would it?"_

_Something in her just snapped when he said that._

"_No, my name is Alice." _

"_Oh I'm sorry; you just... looked so much like someone I used to know." _

_Not anymore, she thought. "It's alright. I get that a lot."_

It was at that point that Shunsaku realized he had been holding his breath. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"...That's why I wasn't here...when Dr. Chaman died." she concluded, rubbing one of her eyes with the side of her finger. "So that's it. That's my alibi and my back story all in one. Not sure if everyone else will be able to wrap it up as easily."

"Everyone else? You mean that-"

"I'm not the only one."

"There are others like you?" Uran asked.

"Yes. And they've been through things just as bad as I have. Possibly worse."

Part of Shunsaku started to feel bad. "Sorry if I brought up something that was uncomfortable."

"Actually it's kinda nice to finally have someone to tell all of this to."


	8. Reaction

Reaction

Dr. Ochanomizu had been keeping in touch with Shunsaku throughout the investigation. Maybe not the best idea from a professional standpoint, but the more middlemen they eliminated, the less likely that anything found would get released to the press. And that was a good enough reason for him.

He looked over the names that Shunsaku had sent. Midori Nobu, Akio Tsuruga, Yuna Goro, Tobio Tenma. _Wait..._

He went back over the list of names to again._ What?!_

This couldn't be happening._ That's...that's impossible!_

* * *

Shunsaku saw that he had an incoming call. It was Dr. Ochanomizu.

"So you got the message I sent you?"

"Ah, yes I did."

"What do you think? Any of the names look familiar?

_Yes_. "Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about."

Shunsaku noticed something unusual in the doctor's voice, he almost sounded scared. "What is it?"

"I don't know what kind of list you were looking at but," he took a breath. "these names here don't make any sense."

"How come?"

"Well for starters…all four of them are dead. They died long before these blackouts started."

"Dead?" Was Midori really telling the truth? "What do you mean dead? I talked to one of them just the other day."

Ochanomizu was surprised. "You did?"

"Yeah, that first woman there on the list, uh…Nobu Midori. Around here she goes by "Alice". She said something about being 'saved' by Chaman's machine and that there were 'others like her' which I'm assuming means the other three."

"So they're all there? In Trylon City?"

"I think so, why is something wrong?"

Dr. Ochanimizu was quiet for a few moments.

"Hello? You still there?"

"Oh, yes I'm still here."

"Something wrong?"

"No, no…I'm just wondering how they could be connected to all this."

_Nirav…what the hell where you trying to do? How can you justify this?_

He finally decided he would let Shunsaku look into this further before he jumped to conclusions. But it was going to be tough. A machine that could revive the dead? Just think of all the possibilities…and all the draw backs. All of these people, especially considering…

He really hoped that for now this would stay secret until more was found out, and that this information wouldn't be seen by anyone else.

But unknown to him, someone already had.

* * *

(A/N: So, who saw that coming? This'll be interesting. Also, Nirav is Dr. Chaman's first name.)


	9. A Whisper

A Whisper

Yuna tried her best to hide her hands, which she was wringing quite furiously. "You know as well as I do that tonight could be the night, tonight there might be a report of another blackout or another "accident"."

"Yuna, calm down."

" No! It's not going to matter if I freak out and go insane. Which by the way, I won't!

Alice wasn't convinced.

"I don't want to be there when it happens. And you shouldn't either!"

"Yuna, nothing's going to happen."

Yuna undid her low ponytail, smoothed out her hair, and then tied it back again. A nervous habit.

"How do you know?" she said bitterly.

Alice turned to Akio.

"You and Tobio know the place better than we do. Maybe you'll run into him down there. You won't be alone."

Akio chuckled; he was a military man, brave as they came. But even he had some doubts. "Yeah, comforting thought."

That was what Yuna was afraid of.

"Come on."

Akio glanced down out the window to see Uran and Shunsaku coming up the walkway. "That's them?"

"Yeah. I know, I thought the same thing." Alice said, crossing her arms.

"Isn't she a little young for this?"

"It's fine, she's a robot."

A mild curiosity flickered in his grey eyes."Huh, no kidding."

* * *

They met the pair downstairs. Alice introduced them to the second man on the list of names, Akio Tsuruga. Shunsaku hadn't been able to find out much about the man since most of his military records were still considered classified.

"This is Akio, he'll be able show you around near the laboratories."

"Where will you be?" Uran was a little disappointed that Alice wouldn't be going with them; in a strange way she had grown to like her.

"I'll be around here, Yuna's getting a bit anxious again."

"You mean paranoid." Akio countered.

Alice rolled her eyes. "Shut up."

Both of them stopped before another argument would rear it's ugly head. It would only waste time at this point."Alright. Akio said finally. "Let's go."

They followed him around the outside of first building, the salty winds from the harbor nearly blowing off Shunsaku's hat. Soon they reached some metal stairs that lead down the side and into the curve of the wall. "Down here." Akio motioned to the set of doors at the bottom.

First thing they noticed when they stepped inside was the difference in temperature. It felt several degrees colder; though it might have had something to with the building being made out of concrete. The second thing they noticed was the faint smell of bleach.

Looking around, Shunsaku noticed that this must have been a set of meeting rooms at some point. He could still see some of the old hard wood floors and shelves on the walls still intact. The faint sound of dripping water filled the silence between them. A pipe along the ceiling must have broken long ago, judging by the crimson trails of rust that had run down the walls.

"I wouldn't advise going that way," Akio motioned with his flashlight. "the floor's water damaged. You guys scared of the dark?" The water continued to drip.

Uran shook her head bravely. Shunsaku however, as brave as he presented himself, felt that deep down that something wasn't right.

"How long has it been since people used this place?" Uran asked, looking over the walls and ceilings.

"A pretty long time. I'd guess about twenty years, maybe more."

"You come down here a lot?"

"Every now and then…Tobio's usually down here and I have to come down and…wait…"

Akio had sworn he had seen a small movement down coming from the far end of the hall. "Tobio?" he called out. "Is that you?"

The three of them peered down the hallway after the flashlight's beam. There were no signs of life anywhere.

"Tobio? Come on, it's just me!" Akio's voice echoed along the empty walls.

There was no answer.

Finally Akio turned away and shook his head. "I could have sworn that was him. Like I said, I usually come in after him when he runs off and ends up down here." They continued to the next set of stairs at the other end of the room. "I guess that was someone else."

"What?"

Akio looked over at Shunsaku, a little confused. "Hmm?"

"I uh…didn't hear what you just said."

"I said that it must have been something else. Lots of creepy stuff down here."

They continued down more stairs and then around the corner. Down at the end of an adjacent hall, Uran and Shunsaku saw an old chair. It looked so out of place, just sitting there. Yet somehow it was compelling to look at. Very…very…

"_Was ignorance…really bliss?_"

Uran's eyes widened, that voice!

"You guys coming?" Akio's voiced snapped them out of it.

* * *

After another ten or so minutes of wandering, they arrived at a walkway that overlooked a larger room. The outer wall was made entirely of thick panes of glass, allowing an underwater view of the harbor along with the fish and plant life it contained. It also let in just enough light that Akio could turn off his flashlight.

"Sure is something, isn't it?"

"Yeah!" Uran agreed instantly.

"There's a few other places down here made of glass, mostly tunnels." Akio cracked a small smile. "We like to call this place 'The Fish Bowl'."

Uran giggled at the name as she followed after the two men.

* * *

"Here it is."

It wasn't as big as they had expected it to be. Sure the ceiling was fairly high but the actual contraption itself was kind of underwhelming.

Uran peeked over the rail. "This is it?"

"Well it's not a star gate."

Shunsaku looked over the railing. It was still a fairly impressive piece of work. "Makes you wonder what went wrong, huh?"

"You have no idea." Akio said quietly.

Shunsaku briefly noticed the row of lights overhead, they were actually working. "All the lights are working here. Is this the only room with power?"

"No, this whole place is wired. I didn't want to turn on anything back there though, with all the water damage and leaks someone could get electrocuted."

"Leaks?"

Akio nodded. "We _are_ about 400 feet underwater."

Meanwhile Uran continued to stare at the machine. Like 'The Fish Bowl', it also had a few panels of glass, allowing a view of the inner workings. Through any bits of information she and Shunsaku could find, this was supposed to be it. Dr. Chaman's so called 'Portal to Heaven.'

"Is this really a portal to heaven?" Uran shoved her hands in her pockets. "That's what it was called in all the papers we found."

An uncomfortable silence hung in the air.

"Is that what he called it?" Akio stepped back from the railing and turned away."He should have named it Pandora's Box."

* * *

(A/N): Little fun fact here, but this story was originally meant to be about Bioshock (first game) and the creation of the Vita Chambers until I changed my mind at the last minute and made it about Astro Boy. It was also supposed to be about something with drills and Yuna and Akio didn't exist at all. Things sure do change.


	10. Angel

Angel

_"I know this is difficult Tobio, but that's why we're here to help, ok?"_

_"Ok."_

_ "I want you to try to remember what happened nine years ago, in Metro City."_

_"Metro City…that's where I live."_

_"Good, can you tell me what happened? In March 20XX?(*)_

_"…Nothing happened."_

_"I think something did happen Tobio."_

_"…I don't...remember."_

_"Tobio, how did you get those scars on your shoulder?"_

_"I already told you, I fell off my bike when I was a kid."_

_"Do you remember when that happened?"_

_"Not really..."_

_"Tell me what you do remember."_

_"I was on my bike, and the pavement was slippery because it had just rained. I hit the brakes hard and I tipped over. I got scraped up pretty bad."_

_"Why did you hit the brakes?"_

_"I...I don't know."_

_"How fast were you going?"_

_"I don't know, fast enough to get hurt when I fell off."_

_"And then what happened?"_

There was a short pause.

_"I've told you before. I don't know what happened after that!"_

_"Tobio, look at me."_

_"Why do you keep asking me to do something that I can't do?"_

_"Tobio, calm down."_

_ "I can't remember Mr. Kuro, I'm trying but..."_

That's where the recording had ended; Shunsaku had listened to it three times now, through headphones so he wouldn't wake Uran up. He glanced over to the bed where she was sleeping, or "powered down" and robots were known to do.

This specific recording he had found in the box he had accidentally sent crashing to the floor, but that wasn't a problem, he was sure he had gathered everything up, right?

Looking over what they had found, the results still hadn't added up...

* * *

Meanwhile

Tobio pulled his head back from where it had been resting on the glass, watching as the forehead print slowly faded away. He didn't know why Akio was always so irritated that he came down here. 'The Fish Bowl', that funny little name that Yuna had come up with, was his favorite place.

To him it felt like it had always been his favorite place. Hadn't it been? He couldn't really remember. Most days he could see entire schools of fish swim by. That giant fish tank in the lobby had nothing on that! But now as he thought of the lobby…the memories were fuzzy but a few stood out to him.

_"Oh my god, what happened?" He knelt down in front of her. "Can you hear me?"_

_"Are…you…an angel?"_

_"If I were, I wouldn't be here." He saw her eyes slowly slip shut. "Come on, try to stay awake."_

He smiled sadly. An angel? Is that what that little girl thought he was? He certainly didn't didn't feel like one, an angel would have gotten to her before she had gotten hurt. Besides weren't angels supposed to have wings? He looked down at his arm. He took the sharp edge of his thumb nail over the back of it, leaving a faint pink line on his skin. Nope, certainly not an angel.

Tobio hadn't seen her since he had been able to sneak her back into the lobby, he hoped that she was alright. Whoever she was.

Just then he heard a small noise, one that sounded like footsteps. Akio had found him again.

Tobio sighed. "I know, you don't like coming down here after me."

"It's just me."

"Oh...Yuna?"

The paleness of Yuna's skin was enhanced by the weak light. They had all often joked that they "haunted" rather than frequently visited these underwater tunnels and rooms. But if anyone truly fit the part of looking like a ghost, it was her.

"You're going to get a sore neck if you sleep out here."

"I wasn't sleeping." he rubbed his eye.

"It's getting late."

"What time is it?"

"Almost 1:30."

It was getting pretty late after all, he had really lost track of time. But now he wouldn't have to make it back up to the surface alone. Yuna was here with him, it wouldn't be so lonely to navigate those dark halls and...wait... Yuna never liked it here. In fact, she avoided the place as much as she could.

They finally made eye contact and his heart raced. Her usual deep brown eyes were now an unnatural shade of gold.

_"You'd better get to sleep."_

The sudden chill in the air seemed to drip down his chest and shoulders. He froze, his foot planted in a first step backward.

It was back.

"Let go of her!"

_"Alright."_

The familiar but eerie shadow was upon him, reaching around him like long fingers, like spider's legs, into his peripheral vision. He closed his eyes in vain, hoping that by doing so he could black the whole thing out, an uncertain promise of escape.

_No, please…no…_

There was a time when he thought it was all an illusion. A manifestation of his fears his mind had created as a way to cope, to keep him safe. But he knew better.

A haze took over his senses as his usual brown eyes faded to an unnatural shade of gold.

The faint line on Tobio's arm had all but disappeared. Later they would find that arm covered in deep scratches.

* * *

Shunsaku switched on another recording, this one from the files Hibine Kuro, the man that had been found alongside Dr. Chaman, just outside the door.

_"According to Dr. Chaman he's made some adjustments to that machine of his. He tried to explain the science to me but I'm having a hard time believing him. He keeps saying plasma reconstruction this and quantum entanglement that, and then "like magic", a portal that connects to whatever lies beyond will open." _

_"The diagnoses is getting more difficult. He's certainly delusional, I haven't ruled out the possibility of Hypomania just yet." _

There was a pause in the recording.

_"He still thinks I'm his assistant from the University. I'm actually the psychiatrist they called in from the Trylon City Hospital. Some of his colleagues were getting worried about him and asked that I keep an eye on him. Most of them are gone now, they've all left."_

_"A big part of me is truly starting to worry for the doctor as well. What will he do if this portal of his doesn't give him the answers he's looking for? Or worse, what if it does?"_

* * *

(*) Kuro doesn't actually say "20XX", that was just to prevent this from becoming too dated.


End file.
